Educational Science

'Designer Baby' Technology to Make Smarter, Taller Kids Doesn’t Work Yet

Will parents soon have the power to decide how tall or intelligent their children will be? Probably not, new research suggests. Ethical debate surrounds the concept of so-called designer babies — offspring whose embryos are either selected for certain traits or genetically engineered to boast chosen genetic traits. Once the...

These Two Drug-Resistant Microbes Are New 'Urgent Threats' to Americans' Health

The U.S. faces two new urgent threats to public health: a couple of drug-resistant germs called Candida auris and Acinetobacter, health officials announced today. These microbes have built up resilience against the drugs designed to kill them, meaning they can be incredibly dangerous and difficult to treat. In fact, drug-resistant...

A soothing pillow and warm duvet might not always lead to better rest. A 43-year-old-man, after having switched to feather bedding, began feeling extreme fatigue and breathlessness, and was diagnosed with feather-duvet lung, according to a new case report. The patient went to his doctor after experiencing three months of...

What If the Berlin Wall Had Not Fallen in 1989?

On Nov. 9, 1989, the barrier between East and West Berlin — and the real concrete structure symbolising the Iron Curtain of the Cold War — was brought crashing down. The fall of the Berlin Wall came to symbolize the collapse of the Soviet Union, signaling the end of a...

Is it Safe to Eat Roadkill?

Each year, vehicles kill hundreds of thousands of animals on roads in the U.S, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. That number could actually be much higher because not all accidents involving animals may be reported. Rather than seeing those animals spoil and go to waste...

Does This 'Unicorn Puppy' Really Have an Extra Tail?

This puppy may not be quite as unique as a unicorn, but he's close: The pint-sized pup appears to have a tail protruding out of his face. The 10-week-old puppy was rescued this month by Mac's Mission, an animal shelter in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, that works with special-needs dogs, according...

Malaria: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that gets passed into the bloodstream of humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. Only the Anopheles species of mosquito can transmit malaria, and mosquitoes pick up the parasite from biting a person already infected with the illness. People with malaria...

Russian Military Launches Secret Surveillance Satellite Into Orbit

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched a top-secret military satellite designed to scope out other satellites in space on Monday (Nov. 25), according to government reports. The Soyuz-2.1v launch vehicle brought the satellite into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, which is roughly 500 miles or 800 kilometers north of Moscow, for...

Here's What Sugar Does to Your Brain

We love sweet treats. But too much sugar in our diets can lead to weight gain and obesity, Type 2 diabetes and dental decay. We know we shouldn't be eating candy, ice cream, cookies, cakes and drinking sugary sodas, but sometimes they are so hard to resist. It's as if...

Monday, Mercury Makes Rare Appearance with a Trek Across the Sun. Here's How to Watch It.

Our cosmic neighbor Mercury is the runt of the solar system; it's not much bigger than Earth's moon and is so hard to spot that it's known as the elusive planet. But we're about to get a rare and spectacular view of the tiny world as it sails across the...